Sunday, February 17, 2013

I will now be blogging over at Cedar Writes, and hopefully be keeping a more regular schedule. Also, you can find my blog on writing and self-publishing over at Amazing Stories Magazine. I appear there on Mondays. I look forward to hearing from you, so follow the links and don't be shy, I like to chat.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

My schedule doesn't give me a lot of play time. Fortunately, some of the things I do and call 'work' I also regard as play. This allows me to go off and "play" while still feeling productive. Which isn't to say that I don't occasionally goof off and waste time, too.

Yesterday was one of the most productive, creative days I have had in a while. It may not happen again soon, but I'm pleased with myself this morning. I wrote over three thousand words on the work in progress, a snarky little story about a pixie with a chip on his shoulder, and a very reluctant fairy princess. What I thought was going to be a short story is rapidly headed for novel status. Not that I mind too much, I am enjoying these characters.

When I finally shut that file down, (which doesn't have the same impact as firmly closing a notebook and slamming one's pen down, saying "enough! I'm tired, already!" to your characters), I moved on to my artwork. I've been learning how to paint on paper, which is a change for me, as I normally paint on skin. Watercolors behave totally different on paper, and I really enjoy seeing what I can make them do, how I can take the picture in my head and bring it to life. It is exciting, and I was so pleased to be able to do the art for the cover of Snow Angel. If you scroll down a bit in the blog, you will find the first parts of the story for free... and the rest of it will be available for purchase soon.

There it is, the cover for my short story about an innocent child, his discovery, and the mother who would fiercely protect her family against even the most unknowable dangers.

I finished out my evening by editing the story one last time, and sending it out to beta readers. Just before I fell asleep last night, I got a message from one of them, telling me he'd done a first read through and found it "Sweet, and powerful."

Sunday, February 10, 2013

I felt the strong desire to update the blog, but I've been putting it off because, well, there's nothing really to talk about on the writing front. I finished Snow Angel, and I plan to publish it, but I held off to do a cover. I'm writing a sequel to Memories of the Abyss even though it isn't published yet, because there is so much raw emotion in it I'm have trouble editing it. But for new words? Nothing much recently.

Partly, that is because I am back in school fulltime for the semester. Essentials of Algebra, Abnormal Psych, and Anatomy & Physiology, and later this semester Cultural Anthropology. Wheee... Yes, I am busy, why do you ask? However, last semester I wrote around classes. This semester, the only class I go to school for is A&P, the others are online. Which means I have more time to do things like work. Writing is taking a back seat for the time.

I did get Vulcan's Kittens finished editing, and out to my young beta readers. So far, the three teens that read it really like it, and I have been asked about the sequel already, which means I need to get cracking on that. My publishing and editing process I will be blogging about over at Amazing Stories, and you can find the first in the series Why Self Publish?, with more to follow every Monday. There are a lot of interesting topics being written about over there!

As for the other side of my writing, I haven't been reading much fiction recently. I'd gotten a couple of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files through the library, but I don't think I'll finish before I need to return them. I did, however, stay up late last night reading... I'd bought Kate Paulk's second in the Con series, ConSensual, and I pulled it up on the Kindle as I'd been having a bad day and needed to de-stress. I laughed out loud in the dark and didn't put it down until I was finished. Ah... I've missed that feeling of being sucked into another world. I highly recommend it!

You, too, can be amused and entertained, just click on the cover below...